Convertible vehicle-tongue.



PATENTED SEPT. 12, 1905.

8. V. PLICE.

CONVERTIBLE VEHICLE TONGUE.

APPLIOATION TILED APR. 17,1905.

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horses.

PATENT OFFICE.

SAMUEL VERNON PLICE, OF POLK, OHIO.

CONVERTIBLE VEHICLE-TONGUE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 12, 1905.

Application filed April 17, 1905. Serial No. 256,042.

To aZZ whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, SAMUEL VERNON PLIon, a citizen of the United States,residing at Polk, in the county of Ashland and State of Ohio, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Convertible Two or ThreeHorse Tongues; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full,clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enableothers skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use thesame.

This invention relates to poles or tongues for wagons or other vehiclesor implements,

but more particularly to a convertible or reversible tongue for use on awagon or other vehicle or implement to adapt it to be drawn by two or bythree horses at will by merely changing the position of the tongue.

The invention will first be hereinafter more particularly described,with reference to the accompanying drawings, which are to be taken as apart of this specification, and then pointed out in the claims at theend of the description.

In said drawings, in which corresponding parts in different views aredenoted by the same letters, Figure 1 represents a top or plan View ofatongue and hounds with cooperating devices embodying my invention,showing the tongue in position for use with three Fig. 2 is a similarview showing the tongue in position for use with two horses. Fig. 3 is aplan view of the stub-tongue shown in Fig. l detached.

The letter a in the drawings denotes a tongue having its rear endpivoted on a bolt d, which passes through the hounds h of a wagon andthrough a casting g, secured between said hounds, so that a single boltserves to secure the tongue, hounds, and casting together. The casting gis longitudinally recessed or slotted to provide a seat for astubtongueor bar 0, which is fitted in said recess and may be secured by the boltd passing through an opening therein. A suitable distance in advance ofthe pivot-bolt d the stubtongue is attached by a link or links I) to'therear portion of the tongue a, as shown in Fig. 1, so that the tongue maybe supported and maintained in a position parallel with the stub-tongueor, in effect, form a continuation thereof, but ofi'set therefrom atsuch point of attachment, while permitting the necessary play orrising-and-falling movements of the forward end of the tongue, thestub-tongue and casting rocking upon the pivot (Z. The

said casting 9 may be formed integrally with rearwardly-extending armsor bars 2', or the said arms or bars 71 may be bolted or otherwisesecured to said casting, as indicated in the drawings, thus forming thehounds of the tongue, which may diverge rearwardly and fit snuglybetween the forwardly-converging hounds h of the wagon or other vehicle.

The letter 6 denotes a bolt or pin for securing adoubletree or awhifiietree, or, if desired, an evener with swingletrees attachedthereto, as desired, in using two or three horses.

f denotes a hammer-strap or brace connecting the bolt or pin 6 to thestub-tongue for the purpose of bracing and strengthening the draftconnections.

The rear end of the tongue a and also .of the stub tongue 0 may have anopen slot therein to engage a round or cross-bar 2",, connecting therear ends of the tongue-hounds, or both tongue and stub-tongue mayoverlie and rest upon said rounds, and both have apertures therethroughto receive the bolt d, so that the tongue and stub-tongue may be securedinterchangeably within the recess or slot extending longitudinally ofthe casting g. Being thus partially embedded, as it were, in saidcasting by fitting in such recess, lateral movement of the tongue orstub-tongue independently of the casting is prevented and independentmovement in a vertical direction is also prevented, or, in other words,the two parts are firmly united and must move together, the recess orslot in the casting upon which the tongue rests being of suitable lengthto aflord a firm support and brace for the tongue. Suitable apertures orholes are also formed in the tongue and stub-tongue coincident with theaperture or apertures through. the bottom of the casting g to receivethe boltor bolts by which the doubletree or whifiietree and hammer-strapare secured to the casting, as indicated by the letters a and f in Fig.3.

By these means a doubletree or whifiiletree may be attached along thecentral line of the hounds of the wagon and the tongue arranged midwaybetween two horses whether two or three horses are used for drawing thewagon or other vehicle or implement, and thus avoid rubbing the centerhorse, which is so liable to occur when three horses are used abreast inconnection with ordinary wagon-tongues, the center horse being badlyrubbed by the pressure of the tongue against his side. As

will be understood by reference to Fig. l of the drawings, the tonguerests midway between the center horse and the left-hand horse when usedwith an ordinary whifiietree orevene'r; but the tongue can bearrangedmidway between the center and right-hand horses, if desired, bymerely turning the tongue over and securing it upon the opposite side ofthe wagon-hounds. When it is desired to use only two horses, thestub-tongue is detached and the maintongue secured to the castingg bythe same bolts that secure the stub-tongue thereto. In either position arocking movement of the casting on the pivot-bolt d is permitted,allowing freedom of movement of the forward end of the tongue in avertical direction; but lateral movement is prevented, except as thetongue moves with the bounds inturning- 1 Having thus described myinvention, what I claim as new, and desireto secureby Letters- Patent ofthe United States, is

1. A convertibletwo-or three horse tongue, com-prising a detachable mainand stub tongue, and a support for the latter pivoted upon a singlebolt, means for detachably securing the main tongue and stub-tonguetogetherto adapt them to swing or rock in unisonon'said pivot, and meansfor securing the tongue in the position normally occupied by thestub-tongue,- so as to adapt the structure for use with two or threehorses, at will.

the tongue-hounds pivoted therebetween, the

stub-tongue removably secured to the tonguetongue together at a point inadvance of said pivot, substantially as described.

3. In combination with the tongue detachably pivoted at its rear end toa fixed support, a stub-tongue detachably and rockingly secured uponthepivot-bolt of said tongue and also secured to the latter at a point inadvance of said pivot to maintain the two parallel'with each other, andmeans for securing said tongue in the positionnormally occupied by thestubtongue, to provide a tongue for two or three horses, at will,substantially as described.

a. A convertible two and three horse-tongue comprising a supportpivotally secured between the hounds of a vehicle, a detachable tonguehaving its rear end pivoted at one side of said hounds, and connectedinfrontthereof with said support, and means for securing said tonguealong the median line of said support, substantially as described.

5. In combination with the vehicle-hounds and tongue-hounds, the castingsupporting the latter having a slot or recess-extending longitudinallythereoflastub-tongueor bar detachably secured in said slot or recess, atongue detachably pivoted to said vehicle-hounds at one sidethereof, andmeans for securing said tongue and stub-tongue or bar together at apoint in advance of said pivot; said tongue and stub-tongue beingadapted to be secured 1 interchangeably in said slot or recess. '2. Incombination with the vehicle-hounds, i

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two w1tn esses.

SAMUEL VERNON PLICE.

Witnesses:

F. N. PATTERSON, B. M. WELTY.

